Flowers
by Kimiz
Summary: Flowers were her comfort zone, it was what she did best, something she had never and would never, fail at. Relationships… That was a whole other story.
1. Snowdrop

**A/N: **Hey! This is my first attempt at InoKiba as the main couple. They're my one true crack pairing, because honestly, I think there's no way they're cannon, but they're fun together, so I like it. I'm actually not picky about who I'd like Ino to be with, as long as it's not Shikamaru, because he is totally Temari's. And I probably just started a ship war somewhere xD Anyway, this is a quick three-shot I made for them, there's ShikaTema smuggled in there, because they're my OTP forever, I'm a ShikaTema fangirl level 125. It's dramatic because I was listening to El Aleph, by Nena Daconte and it sort of slipped into the fic, but I kind of like it, so there. Tell me what you think.

**Disclaimer: **Naruto doesn't belong to me. Not even a piece of it. If it did, I would have smashed Sasuke's face in a long time ago, that lousy fucker…

**Flowers**

_**Snowdrop**_

._hope and consolation._

Ino smiled to herself, gently pulling the stems of the flowers to fit another red petaled one. She let go of the plants and left them to return to their places naturally. She stopped for an instant to admire the arrangement on the counter, feeling reassured of her competence. Flowers. Bouquets. Arrangements. Garlands. This was something she could do. Teaching twelve year old children how to survive in their chosen career, finish her missions successfully, be useful in the hospital, relationships... This she couldn't do, but flowers... Flowers were her comfort zone, it was what she did best, something she had never, and would never, fail at.

Her hands ran through the decorative plastic ribbons under the counter, giving her back the confidence she needed. The night before kept playing in her head, becoming more and more distant and foggy. She could not know how to pick the right man, but she knew the golden ribbon would look wonderful with the red flowers. She could not know how to stop when she should, but she knew how to make a triple loop with a twist of her fingers. She could not manage to keep her heart in one piece, but she could make the bouquet of your dreams in five minutes. She could be feeling small and vulnerable, but she knew in a few moments, she would be back on her feet, ready for the next beating.

She just didn't know it would come so soon.

She was in the middle of a new arrangement, reading the specifications of an order to a wedding on the next night, when the sound of the doorbell cut the silence of the dark store. Ino lifted her eyes quickly, mentally berating herself for not locking the door.

"Excuse me, we're closed…" her voice cracked, and her speech died in her throat seeing who had entered.

"I know." Kiba said softly.

Ino leaned on the counter, afraid her shaking knees wouldn't support her weight. Her heart shot out into such an erratic beat that for a second she wondered if he could hear it. Kiba stood by the door, in his jounin uniform, for once he wasn't using the family paint. Some small part of her fluttered and she remembered she could never resist him with a clean face when younger. It had been such a long time… When had it been the last time they had been alone in a room?

"Kiba!" she exclaimed surprised and more than just a little nervous, pulling a strained smile.

"Ino." He greeted in a gentle tone. She lowered her head, trying to control her increasingly fast beating.

"Are you looking for anything?" she asked cheerfully, with an energy she didn't have. "The store is closed, but since you're a family friend I can make an exception." She joked, lifting her eyes with a half-heartedly teasing smile.

Big mistake.

The moment she looked up, her gaze crashed into his and all the memories she had been trying to supress for the past five years came rushing back to her, flooding her mind with scenes she'd rather forget. They had been young and in love and so unaware of the troubles of the world. If it had been anybody else she would have said it was cute, the way they were always bickering and fighting and running into each other's arms so easily. If it had been anybody else she would have said they were meant to be, would have said they would last forever.

But as it was, she knew where the story headed and they most definitely didn't get a happily ever after. If it had been anybody else, she would have said it was cute. But being her, it just _hurt._

It hurt, because he still looked at her with those deep brown eyes and the tenderness she had seen when they were children; and it hurt her to think that after all these years he still made her hands sweat and her knees weaken like a teenage girl; and it _hurt_, because in moments like these she knew walking away had been the biggest mistake of her life and she feared if she tried to fix it, she would just end up screwing up like she did everything else.

She didn't want to screw up with him. She didn't want to break his heart.

He was the only one who didn't break hers.

"Ino, I'm not here for a flower." He said with a strained smile.

And she knew that; God, of course she knew that. And she feared she knew exactly what he wanted and she wasn't sure she could give it to him at the moment. She wasn't ready. She wasn't strong. She wasn't alright. She needed more time to figure it out.

Heck, who was she kidding? He had given her five years and she still hadn't figured it out. She probably never would. For all her poise and fame and love advices, she positively sucked when it came to _real_ relationships, and the problem was with Kiba it was real. It was always real.

"Well, then," she piped up, jumping to the door behind her. "I'm afraid I'm busy. You see, I have an order due tomorrow night and I promised I'd help my mom."

He crossed the room in three steps, and held her hand pulling her back. The moment his fingers closed around her wrist, a small tingle ran trough her body and her head became suddenly dizzy with the adrenaline rush. She wondered what he would think of her when he noticed just how badly her hands were trembling.

"Kiba, what do you want?" she asked breathlessly, closing her eyes, remaining with her back to him.

"I just wanted to see you." He said softly. She could hear the sadness and the longing in his voice, and she wanted to throw it all to hell and give in then and there.

"It's a long walk just to see me." She replied, gathering what was left of her wit.

"Well, I did." He whispered, almost to himself. He let go of her hand, but she didn't run. She tried to, but her legs wouldn't move. They shook too much. She heard him walking and felt as he approached her, circling the counter to stand beside her.

"Kiba, what are you doing?" she asked painfully, as he lifted his hand and caressed her arm with the back of it. She felt a shiver run down her spine. She had loved it when he did that back then, it made her feel loved and wanted. Now it just made her wince, remembering what she had missed the last five years.

"Why was it over, Ino?"

His question froze her in place. She tensed. She hadn't been expecting that question. She should have. He had always been very straight-forward. She let herself forget the present for a moment, remembering the day it had all crumbled to pieces. She had burried it in the back of her mind, along with all the other memories of him she tried to replace with flower arrangements and different men. But she remembered. Of course she remembered.

How could she ever forget?

She was eighteen and she had had a terrible day. She was tired, angry and feeling absolutely miserable. She just wanted to burry her head in her boyfriend's chest and complain about her crappy day while he rubbed her back and cursed the assholes who made her feel bad. What she got instead was her poor half-dead boyfriend in the couch of his apartment, practically passed out in exhaustion, refusing to open his eyes and give her attention. She had started yelling, he had started yelling and soon they were both at the top of their lungs. Mistakes were brought up, forgotten facts were brought up, exes were brought up, and it was about then that she fled.

She had ended up sobbing on Shikamaru's doorstep that night, him and Chouji had spent the whole night trying to make her stop crying.

She was brought back by the warmth of Kiba's skin against hers. He leaned his chin on her shoulder and for a moment, she let her forehead touch the side of his face, smiling softly.

"Oh, Kiba…" she sighed wistfully. "We were so childish and impulsive… We had stupid fights over anything. I got mad and ran away… And one day…" she turned her eyes to his, smiling sadly. "You didn't run after me." He stayed in silence for a while and then he met her gaze with a fierce determination.

"I should have."

She froze. She knew, deep inside her, he would suggest it, but she didn't think it would have such an effect on her. Her breath hitched, her hands restarted trembling, her knees wobbled again and her heart…

Her heart just about stopped.

"Kiba, don't…" she stuttered, stumbling out of his embrace. He followed her.

"Ino, listen to me."

"Kiba, I don't want to do this, please, don't make me…" he chased after her into the back of the store. He grabbed her hand and tugged at it, just strong enough to make her turn around.

"Ino, listen…" he pleaded. For once, she stopped trying to run.

They stood in the dark, surrounded by the thousands of colorful flowers, breathing fast and hearts on their throats. He stepped closer and she let him. He lifted his hand and hovered over her cheek for a while, hesitant to caress it, finally setling for putting both hands on her shoulders. He was close, so close. If she tipped her chin up their noses would touch.

"Please, please, just hear me out, okay?" she looked away. He held her face between his fingers, hands on her neck, gently pulling her towards him. "Ever since we broke up I've been finding reasons why it was better this way, why we were never meant to be, why we shouldn't be together, why I should just stay away." He chuckled half-heartedly. "They've been growing stupider with time, I'll admit it, but at least I had them." He pulled her to him, hugging her to his chest. "But, Ino… I've run out of reasons."

She closed her eyes, breathing in his grassy scent, dropping her forehead to rest against his chest, letting him lean his chin on the top of her head. She was having a hard time finding reasons herself. Why had she ever broken up with him? Why had she dated all those men if she knew he was everything she needed? Why did she have to resist him, anyway?

The word brought her back. She jumped away from him, stumbling on her feet. Her eyes burned with unshed tears and her lower lip trembled. She backed away to the wall, leaning against it. She looked at his blurring image. The light from the main room sneaked through the door, giving him an ethereal glow that surrounded him like a halo. She could see his face, the way his eyes stared at her with pain and a tinge of exasperation, the way his jaw clenched and his shoulders fell dejectedly.

"Kiba…" she sobbed. He smiled sadly.

"Apparently… You haven't run out of reasons, have you, Ino?" she flinched at the hurt tone of his voice.

He turned around, ready to go. She felt a sense of despair invade her. She had always been the one to run away, he had always been the one to chase after her apologizing. But now, she felt she had to run afer him, because the moment he grabbed the doorknob, her chest ached more than it ever had. Because she didn't know what to do, but she knew she had to do something. If she didn't, he would walk out of her life forever.

And that thought was just _painful_. More, much more than the screw ups she'd done in her life.

Besides… She really had reasons why they shouldn't be together, but the moment he looked at her they had begun sounding more and more ridiculous by the minute.

"Wait!" she yelled, running after him inside the main room, throwing herself against the counter.

He turned to her, shoulders tense, eyes hard.

"Kiba, I…" she stuttered. "Please, I…"

"Ino…" he cut her off. There was pain in his gaze. "Just don't… Don't lead me on, alright? Say yes, say no, I'll accept it. I might not understand, I might not like it, but I will accept it. Don't… Don't play with me."

She bit the inside of her lip. She wanted to say she wouldn't, she wanted to say that the last thing she wanted to do was hurt him, she wanted to say it was the one thing she was trying to avoid. She wanted to spill all her theories on her mess ups, and tell him how screwed up she really was, how she could never make it work, how they hadn't made it work… How scared she was… Of it… Not working again.

"Give me time, okay?" she said, instead.

"I gave you five years." He said harshly.

"Please, Kiba, please, I have to… Sort my thoughts out, I'm not thinking straight, you have no idea what it's been like…" his eyes softened.

"If it's been anywhere next to how it's been for me…" he whispered. He thought for a second, then lifted his eyes. "Think about it." He said simply.

Her knees finally gave out and she slipped until the floor, hand meeting the flowers that had fallen out of the counter earlier. She picked them up, fingers moving on their own, putting together a small mishappen bouquet with the previously discarded flowers. She stared at it with fondness in her moist eyes. She smiled tearfully, cradling it delicately in her trembling hands. If he had just given her a few minutes, if he had just let her finish another arrangement…

'You could have been the one to change my life.' She thought, staring at the flowery ensemble. 'For better… Or worse.'


	2. Iris

**A/N: **Hey, everyone! I'm so sorry for taking so long to write the next chapter, I had the most part written, I just forgot to type it. And then other things came up and this fell behind. I got into a KibaIno mood this weekend and remembered this. I'm sorry. I hope you still want to read it. There's a lot of mentioned ShikaTema here, and I'm sorry if anyone thinks different, but I always thought Temari would be kind of awkward when it comes to boy drama, she just seems like the type to suck it up and move, so forgive me if she annoys you with her lack of sympathy here. She makes up for it, I promise.

_**Iris**_

_.Wisdom, Valor._

_. Your Friendship means so much to me._

Temari walked back home after an excruciatingly boring day filled with Tenten's never ending chatting and piles of paperwork. She almost snorted. Since when had she started calling his house 'home'? She flipped the ring in her finger absent-mindedly. She supposed it was about the time she stopped trying to hide her lack of use of the ambassy room. She sighed, remembering the stupid smirk he had on his face while he left for the mission. When he said she would miss him. 'Well, guess what, stupid crybaby?' she thought to herself amusedly. 'I actually do.' And great, now she was sounding like a sap.

She might've been distracted, but she still felt the presence near their – damn, it, his – house. She tensed, bringing her hand to her weapon, ready for a battle. Except that when she lifted her eyes, the sight that met her was very different from the enemy in fighting stance her mind had conjured. Very, very different, indeed. Ino was sitting on their – his, _his_, for God's sake! – doorstep, crying her eyes out, body shaking with loud sobs. Temari panicked for a full second. Crying people. She _hated_ crying people. She always felt the need to slap them across the face and tell them to get a grip on themselves, not known as the world's favorite method of comforting. It most likely made it worse.

And that's why she looked both ways and tried to sneak out through the same way she'd come.

"I saw you, you know." Ino called, sniffing.

She froze in place. 'Shit.' She thought, turning around slowly and crossing her arms, staring uncomfortably at the bawling girl in front of her. She wasn't completely heartless, she did feel a bit sorry. It was just that she was more annoyed. Swallowing her wish to run on the opposite direction, she walked up to th… _His_ steps, and hesitated for a second before sitting down beside her. Ino looked at her with slight surprise.

"Where's Shikamaru?" she asked between sobs.

"Mission." Temari said bluntly, noticing the girl seemed to sob harder.

"With Chouji?" she nodded. Ino burried her face in her knees. "Great!" she mumbled, voice cracking. "Just great!"

It was highly uncomfortable. Temari really, really just wanted it to stop. So she coughed suggestively to call Ino's attention.

"Look, I'm not really good at sympathy, and I am… Total crap at comforting." She said awkwardly. "But if you… You know, need to…" she didn't even have to finish. Ino lifted her head from her knees and sniffed. Temari noticed her swollen eyes and platinum blonde hair – for once – tangling messily down her back. The woman looked like shit.

"Kiba talked to me today."

Temari refrained from rolling her eyes. Of course there would be a man in the middle.

"And what, he ditched you?" she said with a frown. Ino looked at her as if she were an alien.

"We weren't together!" she yelled as if it was obvious.

"Well, I'm sorry if I don't go around digging for shit on your love life!" she said defensively, lifting her hands. Ino hid her face on her knees again.

"God, you weren't lying when you said you were crap at this." Temari almost smiled.

"So, he didn't ditch you. Whatever the hell happened?"

"He asked me to come back." She answered after a moment's hesitation. Temari blinked at her.

"You said you weren't together." She pointed out. Ino threw her arms up and yelled in exasperation.

"We were before! Five years ago we dated, broke up and now he wants to get back together, okay?"

"Okay, okay, don't get your knickers in a twist!"

"Gods, I don't know what he sees in you." She mumbled, lowering her face.

"You know what? I think it's the sex." She said thoughtfully. Ino choked once, Temari noticed she had laughed between the crying.

"Probably." They fell silent. One minute, two passed, until Temari finally broke it.

"I just want to know something."

"What?"

"What the hell are you still doing here, woman?" Ino's head snapped back to her, eyes wide in surprise.

"What?" Temari rolled her eyes.

"He asked you to get back! You want a boyfriend, he wants a girlfriend, you get together, problem solved." She said like it was nothing. Ino stared at her impassively.

"It's like talking… To a man." She said slowly, unbelievingly.

Temari took a breath, covering her eyes with a hand, rubbing her temples with her thumb and ring finger. Why her, God? Shikamaru would know what to do, he was such a girl in these times. And why couldn't his family be friends with the Hyuugas? His childhood friend would have been Hinata, or maybe it could have been Tenten, and then she wouldn't have to be dealing with this kind of thing.

"What's you problem after all?" Temari asked, restraining her growing urge to slap the girl across the face.

"My problem? What's YOUR problem?" Ino snapped. The ambassador breathed deeply, very deeply.

"I meant, why are you bawling on our doorstep at eleven in the… What?" she stopped, seeing the strange look on the other's face.

"You said 'our'." She deadpanned.

"I what?"

"Bawling on our doorstep. You didn't say his. You said our."

Well, fuck.

Temari stared at Ino without expression, trying to think of a way to deny it, but the mistake had been done. It had already slipped and Ino wouldn't buy any lie. Damn it, just when she thought she had it under control. To her surprise, the other blonde chuckled, a sad wistful look in her eyes as she leaned her chin in her hands, elbows on her knees.

"Did I ever tell you how jealous I am of Shikamaru?"

"Er…" Temari started awkwardly. She didn't like the way the conversation was heading. It screamed sentimental chick chat.

"I'm not in love with him, it's not like that." She said quickly, mistaking her awkwardness for jealousy. "I envy him. He found the love of his life at eighteen, and he wasn't even trying." She chuckled sadly. "While I have to go through dating, breaking up, mindless flirting and all that just to break up again, and…"

Definitely sentimental chick chat. Temari looked around for escape routes, she was outta there.

"And you know… I just… Envy you so much." She continued, arms wrapping around herself. "Because you two are so… Happy." Ino smiled. Temari turned to her surprised. "You're always bickering, but you're so happy. Even when he's saying you're troublesome, he's smiling, and when you're talking about him, you just look so fond…"

"I don't look _fond._" She growled. Ino laughed at that.

"Yes, you do. You love each other and you can't deny it." Temari huffed and crossed her arms. "Mrs. OUR doorstep." Ino teased. The other glared at her. She just smiled sadly, turning away from the girl beside her and hiding her face in her hands. "God, I'm so jealous. There you are, years together, man of your dreams, not a hitch…"

She couldn't help it. Temari burst into laughter.

"What?" Ino asked, looking at her as if she was crazy.

"Man of my dreams? What have you been smoking? I thought you knew Shikamaru since he was a kid." She said laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"Ino, if you think a sexist lazy crybaby who bitches like a girl is the man of my dreams…" she chuckled, crossing her legs and leaning back on the stairs. Ino stayed quiet for a while. And then she said softly, almost pained.

"Then why'd you stay?" Temari stopped laughing, just smiled amusedly and shrugged.

"You said it yourself. I love him."

"But… You said he's not…"

"Oh, Ino, how old are you?" she mocked. The girl looked so surprised and confused she felt sorry for her. With a sigh, she tried to explain as best as she could. "Fairytales, knights in shining armor, perfect men… Ino, you don't get this stuff in real life. You just… Meet someone, if you think they're worthy, you give them a chance. And if you're lucky, they're the right ones. Even if he's not what you always dreamed of."

"But how do I know he's the right one?" she pressed, features twisting in exasperation.

"I can't tell you. It's not something you can explain. One day you'll look at him and it will just… Click. One day you'll just be sure, you'll just be sure, when you weren't about anybody else. One day it will just feel right." Ino sighed dejectedly.

"It's easy for you to say that. You guys are perfect. You never fight…"

"We never fight?" Temari opened her mouth in incredulity. "We never fight? Are you crazy? We're always fighting!"

"But it's just banter! It's just cute couple banter."

"Really cute it is when you're barely keeping youself from strangling your boyfriend." Temari snorted.

"Don't." Ino said tiredly. "It's different. You get it, don't you?" The older girl shook her head with a wry smile.

"You make it sound easy."

"That's what it looks like." Ino mumbled.

"That's what it always looks like, isn't it? When it's not us." Temari sighed. "Let me tell you something. We… Shikamaru and I… Are not emotional people. We don't rush into things, scream our hearts out, act without thinking. We are very logical people and love…" she opened a crooked smile. "Is anything but logical. He was a sexist genius and I was a bitchy smartass, and we were falling. But we fought all the way down. We couldn't admit that despite our wits and brains we were falling for a trap like all the other idiots we made fun of. Our prides got in the way… And it was a pretty messy affair. The beginning was rocky, to say the least. All we did was fight and sometimes there wasn't even time to make up before we had another one. We were so… Imature about it…" she laughed fondly. "It's ridiculous. There was once or twice where I gave up and left, and he had to chase after me. There were times where I had to swallow my pride and apologize. There were times where we were both so tired of screaming we gave up mid argument. It was anything but easy, and there were times where we both thought about quitting. But we worked it out." She turned to the teary girl beside her. "And Ino… That's what it's all about. There will be hitches, there will always be hitches. We're human, we screw up, we'll hurt and get hurt, but that's what it makes everything worth it, that's what makes it real. And if you can look back and see that the good times were worth the bad times… Then that's something worth fighting for, don't you think?" she finished with a smile.

Ino was quiet. She was quiet for a long time. They sat together on the cold stone steps, sharing a comfortable silence, listening to the leaves rustling in the wind, feeling the chilly night breeze as it swept over the streets. Temari was almost embarrassed by how much she had talked. She wasn't the kind of girl to talk about her feelings, it made her feel strange and uncomfortable, but she wasn't feeling too bad at the moment. There was just something telling her that she had done the right thing. Looking at Ino think hard, she could only imagine the kind of emotions running through her head at the moment. She even felt a little sorry for her, she thought that maybe she had been a little harsh. She wasn't really good at being gentle, but she could have tried to be a little bit less brute. But then, the blonde lifted her head and looked at her, with those pale blue eyes burning with determination, corners of her lips lifting slightly.

"You know, Shikamaru was right about you." She said softly. Temari rolled her eyes.

"What, I'm crazy?" she asked, guessing what kinds of things he told his friends about her behind her back. Ino laughed and shook her head.

"No. You're kind of amazing." She said with a brilliant smile. Temari's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but before she could contest her, Ino threw herself at her, wrapping her arms around her in a bone crushing hug, and then stood up, running off, turning a corner and disappearing from her view.

Temari huffed indignantly. Did that girl just hug her? What the hell? And the nerve of that boy! What did he think he was doing, going around saying she was kind of amazing? She was totally amazing! She'd be sure to smash the information into his brain when he came home. She felt heat burn her cheeks, and realized she was probably blushing. She cursed out loud.

"Stupid…" she mumbled, standing up to walk back inside the house. She sent the street one final look over her shoulder, and allowed her lips to slip into a small smile.

She hoped that ridiculous girl would work things out with dog boy. Something told her she would.

"What's this now? First his house, now his friends, what's next? His fucking last name?" she grumbled to herself, slamming their door shut.

His! His door, damnit!


End file.
